by Sarah Sutton
Aunt Aimee gave a loud gasp, but I slipped safely out of reach when she tried to reach out and smack me.
The door chimed and I hauled it opened and hurried outside, not putting it past Aunt Aimee to throw her pen in my direction. I could feel my smile, wide on my face, as I stepped out onto the sidewalk, and it only deepened when I turned and saw two figures leaning up against the building.
Donnie leaned against the shop’s wall, blue coffee cup in his hand, but straightened when he saw me. “Huh. I didn’t realize how long it’s been since I’ve seen you smile like that.”
“I’m in a pretty good mood,” I told him, my gaze shifting to the boy to his right
Looking at Lucas gave my heart race, even though it hadn’t even been a full day since I’d seen him. No, I’d seen him last night, when we’d taken Delia to the movie theater over in Bayview. He wore the black jacket he always wore, even though soon he’d have to break out a warmer coat. Cooler temperatures descended fast, but even slightly underdressed, he still was stunningly handsome, enough to make my brain hurt.
He still was propped up against the brick building, both hands holding the signature Crushed Beanz coffee cups, looking at me with an expression so warm it could’ve chased the cold air away.
I didn’t even realize we’d stood there, staring at each other, until Donnie groaned. “You know, I was starting to get used to you two not making me gag all the time. Seriously.”
“You’re ridiculous,” I said with a roll of my eyes, but my cheeks heated.
“Here’s your espresso,” Lucas said as he passed one cup to me. “Just as you like it.”
The cup instantly warmed my hands as I latched on. “Thanks. Can we walk through Kepler park on the edge of town? Those trees always have the prettiest colors.”
Donnie grumbled an affirmative and turned on his heel, leaving Lucas and me to follow. Immediately, Lucas held his free hand out to me. When I took it, he didn’t lace our fingers together—no, he pulled me quickly forward, giving my body no choice but to fall against him, not an inch between us. I’d barely had any time to tilt my coffee so it wouldn’t spill.
“Hurry,” Lucas mock-whispered. “Kiss me while he’s not looking.”
“You’re ridiculous,” I scoffed, but pushed onto my tiptoes anyway.
Denying a boy as beautiful as Lucas when he requested a kiss was insanity. I couldn’t do it. His mouth heated my own, like sun melting snow. I could taste the macchiato on his lips, and my chest, my blood, my brain—all of me felt warm.
After stealing one more kiss, I leaned back. “I love you,” he whispered against my skin.
I opened my mouth to say it back when Donnie cut over me, voice loud. “You have got to be kidding me. Do I need to separate you two?”
I couldn’t fight the grin that surfaced as Donnie glared between the two of us.
“We’re coming,” Lucas assured him with a slight chuckle, drawing away and grabbing my hand. “Right behind you.”
“It’s what you’re doing right behind me that freaks me out.”
I cuddled closer to the boy at my side as we walked along the sidewalk, loving how he pulled me firmer against him, how he leaned down to kiss the top of my head. “I love you too,” I whispered back, hooking my fingers in his belt loops and hanging on tight.
Donnie started to talk to Lucas about school, and I sipped at my espresso, glancing between them as the bitterness stole over my tongue. Donnie, with his spiked hair poking out from underneath his cap. Lucas, with his content half-smile on his face while the two spoke, blue eyes periodically drifting down to me.
I’d almost given all of this up. All of this. I huddled deeper against Lucas’s side, vowing I’d never make that mistake ever again.
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